- Saratoga Race Course: Castellano rides Bright Future to victory by a nose in Jockey Club Gold Cup
SARATOGA SPRINGS — Jockey Javier Castellano keeps landing in the right spots.
On Saturday, that spot was the winner’s circle, after he rode Bright Future to a nose victory over Proxy in the Grade I Jockey Club Gold Cup at Saratoga Race Course.
The 45-year-old Hall of Famer added that to his wins in the Kentucky Derby on Mage and the Belmont Stakes and Travers on Arcangelo.
Castellano probably wouldn’t have been on Bright Future if not for a riding accident on July 21 that put Jose Ortiz on the shelf for a few days. Ortiz was supposed to ride Bright Future later in that card, but Castellano was aboard for the allowance race at a mile and an eighth, and won it by 4 3/4 lengths to set up a shot at the $1 million Jockey Club Gold Cup.
“I’ve been blessed, very lucky and very fortunate to ride the best horses, especially with Todd Pletcher, one of the best trainers in the country,” Castellano said. “He gave me the opportunity to ride this horse, and that’s the key. Keep positive and working hard, and see everything come around.”
“Javier’s had a phenomenal year,” Pletcher said. “He’s making all the right decisions, and it’s great to see him back in top form after he had to take some time off for an injury. He’s riding as good as ever.”
“It’s our first Grade I with Javier since Stopchargingmaria,” co-owner Mike Repole said, referring to the 2015 Breeders’ Cup Distaff. “He won with Stay Thirsty [in the 2011 Travers], we have a lot of history together, he’s riding great and to get this win with him is pretty special.”
Castellano was in a position to ride either Mage or Arcangelo in the Travers, then wound up having the decision made for him when the Mage camp went with Luis Saez.
Then Saez got injured, and Flavien Prat got the call. Mage finished last of seven, and Castellano won his record seventh Travers on Arcangelo.
On Saturday, Castellano let Bright Future track front-runner Warrior Johny early.
Bright Future moved to the lead coming off the second turn and and had just enough left to get to the wire a very narrow nose in front of the hard-charging Proxy to his outside.
“I had a lot of confidence after the way I rode the horse last time,” Castellano said. “He gave me the impression he was going to step up the ladder a little bit, the level. I had a lot of confidence because this is a good horse and I thought he can do it. I’m very happy that everything went through. I had a beautiful trip and a good post today. It worked out great.”
“Javier gave him a great ride,” Repole said. “He let that 8-1 horse just kind of go. We said if that horse is going to go wire-to-wire and beat us, we’d be OK with it.”
The Jockey Club Gold Cup was just Bright Future’s second stakes start.
Ridden by Irad Ortiz, Jr., he was eased and finished way up the track in the Grade Brooklyn going a mile and a half at Belmont Park on Belmont Stakes Day June 10.
“We probably got a little ambitious when we tried the Brooklyn,” Pletcher said. “He didn’t have quite the foundation to be ready to go a mile and a half at that stage. We regrouped with the allowance race, and I thought it was a powerful performance. From that time on, the horse has trained exceptionally well and we were optimistic he was ready to move forward.”
The next move forward might be training up to the Breeders’ Cup Classic on Nov. 4.
The Jockey Club Gold Cup was a “Win And You’re In” qualifier for that race.
The Bright Future camp expects they’ll have to find another jockey, again, since Castellano is Arcangelo’s regular rider.
“Javier said he’s going to ride this horse. He made the announcement today,” Repole joked.. “You guys want to write that down. He chose the owner over the horse.
“Nah, obviously Javier’s going to ride Arcangelo. We’ll find someone.”
FOURTH TIME’S THE CHARM
Starting for the fourth time of the meet, Thin White Duke finally made it to the winner’s circle, just getting up for a victory by a neck over 6-5 betting favorite Big Invasion in the Harvey Pack stakes on the undercard.
He won this race by a nose last year, when it was named the Lucky Coin.
In three previous starts at the meet, Thin White Duke was fifth in an allowance, third in the Grade III Troy and fourth in another allowance on Aug. 23.
“It’s been a slow meet not having any live ones to lead over,” trainer David Donk said. “He’s done really well and I wasn’t afraid to run him back, he’s been kind of full of himself.
“It’s a different world, we don’t run very often. These are grass horses, and he ran the last quarter of a mile. It’s easy on him. He comes out of them well, and we wouldn’t run him otherwise. He buries his feed tub and gives you all the right signs. It’s fun.”
